Today's News

INDEPENDENCE –– Winning its ninth straight game and for the 16th time in its last 17 outings, Grayson County did what pretty much everybody expected and played its way into the Region C Division 2 softball semifinals.

But it wasn’t like the Blue Devils’ first-round opponent just rolled over for them.

Fort Chiswell, which had taken five-inning losses of 12-1 and 10-0 in the regular season, and Pioneer pitcher Amber Chrisley held Grayson County to five hits as the Blue Devils scraped out a 4-0 win Tuesday at the Grayson Rec. Park.

RADFORD –– With Grayson County having won five of the first six games in the first set of the Region C boys’ tennis doubles championship Wednesday, one might have wondered just how fast the thing was going to be over with.

As it turned out, Glenvar got it over with pretty quickly.

The Highlander duo of Alex Dunkenberger and Colton Walls reeled off 11 straight games, then fended off a comeback attempt by Grayson’s Garrett Bailey and Mike Vaughan to win the title 7-5, 6-4 on the Dedmon Center courts.

WYTHEVILLE –– When Galax boys’ soccer coach Troy Barkley asked his team to come up with a list of goals at the start of the season, ‘reach state tournament’ found its way somewhere on the list. The team winning its first 20 matches did not.

They got that one anyway.

Galax improved to 20-0 and punched its ticket to the Group A tournament with a dominant second-half effort, overwhelming Giles 5-1 at George Wythe High School’s Pendleton Field.

INDEPENDENCE — Grayson County will move forward with seeking certification to continue its auto mechanics program through the county’s Career and Technical Education Center (CATE).
CATE Principal Karen Blevins talked with the school board earlier this month requesting approval to seek certification.
Blevins explained that at some point the certification was dropped, primarily due to costs.
At the time, having a certified instructor was sufficient. Legislation changed two years ago, requiring programs to be certified by July 1, 2013.

The City of Galax has granted a request from the Galax Downtown Association to allow alcohol sales during the annual Leaf & String Festival in June.
Ray Kohl spoke on behalf of the GDA at a recent Galax City Council meeting, detailing other changes to the festival focused on local music, art and literature. “We are trying to make Leaf & String more of a local event that highlights things that happen in our area,” he explained.

As Galax High School’s senior class prepares to graduate on May 31, some members of the Class of 2013 are leaving their mark on their alma mater.
Ali Reyna’s idea was to leave a literal mark, in the form of a mural of fellow seniors’ handprints.
“I wanted to leave a legacy for our senior class: an artwork to continue over the years,” he said.
After brainstorming several ideas, he came up with the concept of using a wall inside the school for seniors to leave their handprints before they graduate.

Editor’s Note: This information is taken from open court records and is a matter of public record. The listings are complete.
The newspaper, as a matter of fairness, will not honor requests to omit any listing.
For information on this column or questions, call 236-5178, ext. 213.

District Court

These sentences were recorded in March in the Grayson County General District Court Office, Independence. Sentences may be appealed:

HILLSVILLE — A Florida man is wanted in connection with the assault of a Hillsville man.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office has issued a warrant for Justin Baldwin, 33, of Hollywood, Fla.
He is charged with the malicious wounding of Dusty Dale Pickett, 53, who police say was assaulted at 612 Sylvatus Highway in Hillsville on May 23.
Investigator Donnie Spangler of the sheriff’s office reported that Pickett confronted some people in a neighbor’s yard to see why they were there, and one of them hit Pickett, fracturing his face.